The present invention is directed to a photographic processing drum having a circular media holding or cueing cylinder and a linear dryer located at an exit of the circular cylinder.
Photographic processors come in a variety of shapes and sizes from large wholesale photographic processors to small micro-labs. As photographic processors become more and more technologically sophisticated, there is a continued need to make the photographic processor as user-friendly and as maintenance-free as possible.
Currently available photographic processors have one or more of the following shortcomings: (1) the film processing time is relatively long; (2) some photographic processors, because of their size, require a large amount of space to accommodate both the processor and the dryer; (3) some photographic processors may require an unacceptable amount of processing solution due to the design of the processing tank; (4) some photographic processors generate an unacceptable amount of solution waste due to the design of the processing tank.
What is needed in the art is a photographic processor which provides exceptional print quality while requiring a minimal number of tasks necessary for an operator to process multiple types of film. What is further needed is a photographic processor which is designed to accommodate a processing section, a dryer and a cueing or holding space for film to be dried in a compact arrangement which takes up a minimum amount of space while at the same time increasing throughput.
The present invention addresses some of the difficulties and problems discussed above by the discovery of a photographic processor having an drum processor and a circular holding or cueing cylinder which surrounds the drum processor and holds processed film prior to delivery to a linear dryer. The arrangement of the present invention increases throughput by moving media as quickly as possible from the drum processor to permit an entry of subsequent media into the drum processor.
The present invention accordingly relates to a photographic processor which comprises a circular processing drum for processing photographic media; a circular holding cylinder having a circular media path therein, with the circular holding cylinder being adapted to receive the processed photographic media from the circular processing drum and hold the processed photographic media therein prior to drying; and a film dryer provided at an outlet of the circular holding cylinder for drying the processed photographic media as the photographic media exits the circular holding cylinder.
The present invention further relates to a method of processing photographic media which comprises the steps of inserting photographic media into a circular processing drum; supplying and discharging prosing solution into and from the circular processing drum to process the photographic media; transferring the processed photographic media from the circular processing drum to a circular holding cylinder which is adapted to hold the processed photographic media therein prior to drying; and transferring the processed photographic media from the circular holding cylinder to a dryer positioned at an outlet of the circular holding cylinder to dry the processed photographic media as the photographic media is removed from the circular holding cylinder.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a review of the following detailed description of the disclosed embodiments and the appended claims.